Let’s Go Anywhere


16 January 2015
Seattle, WA

We are setting off to start our new life in Melbourne, Australia. With us on this adventure is as little as we could imagine bringing to a new home halfway around the world. Two bags for each of us to last until our half container pod of remaining essentials (and some not so) are set to arrive 4-6 weeks after we do.

On a steel gray January morning we bid adieu to Alley 24, our home for nearly four years, tossed our two bags into the Subaru for the last time and drove up to Ballard to crash in our friend’s 4’ by 7’ TV room. This will be our cozy accommodations for four nights until our flight on the 20th. Sometime in that span we’ll be selling our trusty steed and further shedding some last possessions that missed the boat but can’t be justified in the checked luggage.

Now that we are unemployed, transient couch surfers the enormity of the move must be faced. No more second guessing the decision, no more dreamy discussions. Now just real, live logistics – an AirBnB, work visas, money transfers, international shipping manifestos, packing re-packing our luggage.

We’ll be there soon and once we arrive we’ll do our best to document our adventure here so feel free to follow along as we share the highlights of our life Down Under.


Arrival in a Strange Land


22 January 2015
Melbourne, Vic

A full twenty-four hours after leaving Seattle – via our scheduled Los Angeles stop and our unscheduled Sydney one – we arrived in Melbourne. Immigration and customs took a matter of minutes, either a nod to Australian efficiency or, possibly, apathy. Our journey to the taxi stand took us outside and into the heat, a very welcome 36C (97F) heat. As our cab headed into the city our fatigue and exhaustion melted away as our new home came into view out of the car windows. We had made it. Our new lives here were a blank canvass waiting for us to fill them with memories of a lifetime. This blew a strong wind into our sails; ready we were to see what this continent has to offer.

After a few wrong turns down some tricky one-way alleys, our driver found our AirBNB flat (apartment) and set us free. We dumped our luggage, changed into our bathers (swimsuits) and headed down to the St. Kilda beach to showcase the whitest skin in all of Oz (Australia), perhaps the Southern Hemisphere. In the mid-arvo (afternoon),our hunger pangs drove us from the beach to Fitzroy Street for a snack. We cashed in our gift certificate to Milk the Cow, a wine and cheese shop near the beach. All manner of fancy spreads and cuts were brought our way; all consumed in short order. We retired for our first night down under, but not before catching a few matches of The Tennis (The Australian Open) on The Tele (TV).


Settling In


23 January 2015
St. Kilda, Vic

On our first full day we dove right into the culture with a lazy cup of morning tea ([Twinnings] (https://twinings.com.au/), of course) on the deck. The cool, marine breeze of the early morning quickly gave way to summer heat. Inspired to experience this new place we took a long walk along the Bay Trail down to Point Ormond. This is a truly fantastic trail. Kilometers upon kilometers of pricey coast real estate dedicated solely to public use. We will undoubtedly spend considerable time moving to and fro on non-vehicular thoroughfare. Bikes must be purchased and soon. Andy is keen on rollerblades; Erin not so much so.

The walk back was warm; the heat, the sweat, the sun on our skin all so wonderful after the last few months in wet and cool Pacific Northwest. We live here now.


The Tennis


24 January 2015
Melbourne, Vic

For three weeks in late January and early February all eyes – in the tennis world at least – are on Melbourne and the Australian Open. Or, more affectionately referred to here on the ground as The Tennis . The cultural immersion program we had set for ourselves dictated that we attend.

On a gorgeous, sunny Saturday with temperatures near 30C (86F) we arrived early, as did the rest of the city. Tickets to the two main courts were sold out so we settled for ground passes. A ground pass allows access to all other venues but main courts, including the very large Hisense Arena. Our lack of planning did mean we’d miss Venus Williams’ match; however, our early arrival permitted a viewing of Serena practicing from up close, so not all was lost. It should not go unmentioned that the lines to enter the cultural events – the beer and wine gardens – stretched on to the far reaches of the grounds as Melbourne’s 20-somethings shook off last night’s hangover and queued up for another run at it. No prom or gala in America had anything on this scene.

Serena’s practice session sated our patriotic hunger; next on to Hisense for some live matches. Prior to the opening 11am match seats were plentiful. As rookies do, we made a rookie mistake and sat in the glaring sun, amazed at why such good seats were available when less optimal ones (shaded) were taken. A few hours later, the place was packed and we were sweating through our clothes, the full power of antipodal sun baking our pale northern bodies. We endured two hours of roasting to see the Spaniard, Muguruza, down Bacsinszky of Switzerland in a hard fought women’s singles match. A welcome relief as the shade enveloped us for match two. Here, the 8th ranked Montenegro-Canadian Milos Raonic used his 220+ km/h serve to breeze by the scrappy Benjamin Becker of Germany.

The grounds were throbbing full at this point and, needing food and drink, we called it a day and left for home. Our hunger and thirst pulled us into a pit stop at the Royal Croquet Club’s (RCC) off-site Aussie Open extravaganza…basically a massive beer garden with food trucks, croquet courts and a DJ spinning house music. Attendance was thin – it was early – but judging by the size of the beer stands it would become a righteous rave later in the evening. Still jet-lagged and a good decade older than the intended demographic we could not muster the resolve to go on a day-long drinking spree and, after a delicious snack and two Hahn Lights, made our way home. Cultural immersion complete for today.


Market Day


25 January 2015
Melbourne, Vic

The Queen Victoria Market is both a tourist trap full of fake Australian Outback hats and crocodile wallets as well as fully functional grocery store and mercantile. In what other seven hectare space upon the face of this earth can you buy a pallet of kangaroo pelts, powerful mystery crystals, Footie gear, a 55-gallon drum of raw almonds, Crest toothpaste, collectible dolls, antique hunting knives and a dozen fresh duck eggs? Any form of great quest can be outfitted from here; same too for fulfilling the needs of most eccentric among us. There is truly something for everyone. We bought none of the above, instead spending most our time investigating the widest variety of cured meats we’d ever seen.

[Erin] Being from Seattle, my expectations of coffee are high. Melbourne’s reputation as having a world class coffee culture proceeds it. In the three days we’ve been here, I’ve found it to be as promised and have been been gleefully sampling from a variety of new favorite, local cafes. Market Lane Coffee has a corner shop in the Queen Vic Market and since I wasn’t really sure what a flat white or a long black would end up as, I ordered a cappuccino like a pro, right up until I tried to pay for a $4 coffee with two 20 cent coins. (For some reason the smaller coins are larger amounts here). After Googling “long black” I decided it would be the closest to my Americano order back home and I can avoid looking like a complete dumbass next time. I am also adding this bit of information to save you all from Googling “long black” in the workplace.

With Market bags in hand and caffeine needs met, we took the tram back to our temporary home in St. Kilda for a sunny lunch on our patio. At some point we will stop acting like this is a vacation and get on with the details of finding a permanent dwelling, communicating with family, preparing for work, being responsible adults, but not quite yet…after all, we are still wearing fresh, clean clothes from our suitcases. Life doesn’t really start until laundry calls.


’Stralia Day


26 January 2015
Burwood, Vic

Australia Day celebrates the 1788 landing of the British First Fleet at Sydney Cove. We expected something like an Australian Fourth of July extravaganza. However, on account of souring public opinion over the ensuing treatment of the Aboriginal peoples, the reality of the holiday is something closer to a modest Columbus Day barbecue. As luck so had it, an old classmate of Erin’s had recently moved to Melbourne and had extended to us an invite to a afternoon party out in Wattle Park, east of the city. On the (not to scale) Melbourne tram map, it looked close enough. Ignorant of the speed, or lack thereof, of the tram system we jumped aboard the 16 Tram headed east then north through St. Kilda East, Balacava, Caulfield North, Malvern, Kooyong and then Hawthorn where we transferred to the 70 Tram whereupon we crawled through Hawthorn East, Camberwell, Surrey Hills and finally into Burwood, home to the Park of Wattle. Along the way we were overtaken by many cyclists, scooters, rickshaws, jitneys, wheelchairs, mums with prams, stray dogs; really anything wheeled or anyone particularly fleet of foot was bound to pass us eventually.

Ninety or so minutes later we arrived. The beer that we purchased at the beginning of our journey was now fully the temperature of the ambient air. The small fete was enjoyable, a good chance to meet some local people and test our new land’s ability to throw a bash. Marooned out here in the burbs, the only economically sensible thing to do was to ride the same slow pony back to town…at least we knew what to expect this time. We rewarded ourselves for our arduous travels with some of the world’s greatest frozen yogurt, Yo-Chi. To walk off these excess calories, we ambled down to the beach to watch the sun dip below the gentle waves of Port Phillip Bay.


Back to Work


27 January 2015
University of Melbourne, Vic

The fun had to end eventually, I was down here for a job after all. Mind you I wasn’t headed to the salt mines or anything resembling difficult physical labor, but coming back to a schedule and being responsible to an employer was a unwelcome change nonetheless.

I arrived to the brand new Melbourne School of Design (MSD) building and my 9:30 appointment to find … (click for more).


Beach Boxes


30 January 2015
Brighton, Vic

When not outside basking in the glorious January weather, we are busy on Domain.com.au searching for a place to live. This either means walking or taking the trams/trains to different neighborhoods around the city until we are exhausted or sunburned, often both. Our standard operating procedure once in such a condition is to find refuge and relief in a gelato or frozen yogurt shop. I dare you … (click for more).


In Search of a Home


1 February 2015
Melbourne, Vic

We are still vagabonds, living off of takeout at our small, but comfortable AirBnB in the heart of St. Kilda. We put in an application for the small brick homes in the photo below. There are no guarantees here in this ‘lottery for a rental home’ system. It is just one of hundreds that we’ve looked at online and one of a handful that we’ve inspected and applied for. We feel like we have a good chance here because … (click for more).


Not So Super Bowl


2 February 2015
Prahran, Vic

9am Monday morning and we are headed to a bar. A friend of a friend had invited us out to the College Lawn Hotel in Prahran neighborhood. Entrance was pricey, but we did get all you could drink beers and wines and a wide variety of free bar foods. Upon arrival, we noticed the 12th man flag We had made a good choice. The place filled … (click for more).


How Ya Goin


4 February 2015
Albert Park, Vic

After many tours, followup emails and countless hours scouring online listings, we finally secured a place to live. It is a wee Victorian cottage in a neighborhood called Albert Park. It is a quaint, but upscale little area with adequate, but not hip, amenities and, importantly, is only a walk or short bike ride to the beach and a direct tram ride away from … (click for more).


Ikea-a-thon


8-9 February 2015
Richmond, Vic

We now have a house. It is filled with exactly nothing as all we own here are the bags we brought on the plane (and the various suncreens Andy has hoarded in the past two weeks) and those are still at the Airbnb we have for a few more days. So we went shopping. Furniture shopping – the seventh level of hell for one of us. In fact, Andy might … (click for more).


Moving In


12 February 2015
Albert Park, Vic

This entire blog post could be about nothing more than the series of minor failures that we have had in the past week while moving into our new home. Instead, we will channel the positive and enlighten you with the few, but crucial wins we have had secured. To begin, we are now the proud owners of … (click for more).


A Downtown Walkabout


14 February 2015
Melbourne, Vic

To celebrate St. Valentine (Valentino in the large Italian sector of Melbourne) we explored our city – a long date filled with many cultural institutions and ice creams. We began with a trip to the State Library and concluded at Federation Square, connecting these two iconic places via the least efficient … (click for more).


A Slice of Home


21 February 2015
Melbourne, Vic

In need of a vacuum, a year’s worth of toilet paper, three liters of barbecue sauce, a kilo and half of haloumi and several other bulk items that can only be moved with a pallet jack, we took a short tram ride to Costco Australia, conveniently located just north of downtown Melbourne. Rumor has it that the Melburnians were so pleased with the arrival … (click for more).


Furniture and F1


25 February 2015
Albert Park, Vic

Big week for us. We bought a grill (barbie), our couch and desk were delivered (installed incorrectly) and our internet was finally installed (with speeds near that of Andy’s early 2000s dorm room…). After tethering our cell phones to our computers in order to get work done and sitting on the floor for 2 weeks, this was a big improvement. That said, we are coming … (click for more).


A Walk in the City, A Walk in the Bush


2 March 2015
Melbourne + Belgrave, Vic

We are getting to know our new city bit by bit and day by day. Whether by suggestions from new friends, places we have read about on local websites or curiosities stumbled upon while lost, we end up on weekly field trips to discover little city gems. Whilst wandering the city, one of the most pleasant surprises is volume and diversity of street art in Melbourne. This weekend we decided to specifically … (click for more).


Classroom Debut


8 March 2015
Parkville, Vic

The students returned to campus this week, which meant the peacefulness Andy had been enjoying at work was suddenly shattered. It was easy to forget hat a scene a thriving 40,000 student campus could become. Added to this was the fact that we were housed in a brand new building, the likes of which the students hadn’t seen yet … (click for more).


Experimental Cooking


18 March 2015
Parkville, Vic

[Erin] Growing up, whenever my mom would try a meal outside of her wheelhouse, she would always preface the meal with the descriptive warning that it was ‘experimental’. Carrying this over into my adult life, I have begun to refer to Andy’s enthusiastic use of flavors and discretionary attention to recipes as ‘experimental cooking’ and now … (click for more).


Mornington, Day 1


20 March 2015
Mornington Peninsula, Vic

For Erin’s upcoming birthday we decided to finally leave the comforts of the big city and venture into rural Victoria – the Mornington Peninsula to be precise. To do so meant renting a car and driving. Not just any driving, but driving on the left hand side of the road…or basically unlearning everything that you’ve been consciously (and sometimes not so) doing for the past … (click for more).


Mornington, Day 2


21 March 2015
Mornington Peninsula, Vic

Our last minute lodging at the Lindenderry Farm and Vineyards proved restful and we woke before sunrise to head to the Mornington Peninsula Hot Springs. With over twenty mineral pools to dip and soak in, we thought it would be the perfect morning activity. As the first people through the door, hustled up the hill to stake our claim in the aptly named Hilltop pool. Doing so enabled us to catch sunrise … (click for more).


Bachelor Life


31 March 2015
Albert Park, Vic

[Andy] A few weeks ago, you heard about Erin’s daily routine of one-pot cooking, sun-bathing and trips to the market. With Erin in Hawaii and me living the bachelor life, I’ll provide some insight into my own daily exploits. I teach on Tuesday and generally have meetings, class prep and other administrative duties … (click for more).


Botanical Gardens


5 April 2015
Melbourne, Vic

The city is a ghost town. It is Easter weekend, a national holiday, and it would appear that most of our neighborhood and a fair bit of the city are off for a final summer’s weekend someplace else. That included the shop owners and retail clerks. As everything was closed up tight, we walked to the … (click for more).


Grampians National Park


6-7 April 2015
Halls Gap, Vic

Toward our effort to explore our new state of Victoria, we took a quick two-day trip out for some bushwalking in the Grampians National Park. The Grampians Mountain Range, or Gariwerd as known to the local Aboriginals, is a photogenic sandstone range that runs north-south cutting through the Victorian plains. … (click for more).


Fall and Footy


16-18 April 2015
Melbourne, Vic

Fall is definitely here, as the non-indigenous, deciduous trees are all beginning to drop their leaves. After a lifetime in the Northern Hemisphere, it is really hard to condition yourself to think of April as being fall. We’ve both continually been referring to the upcoming months as ‘summer’, though they’ll be anything but as our local friends are keen to remind us. People here have assured us … (click for more).


Farm Life


1-3 May 2015
Ballarat, Vic

This weekend we were invited out to visit our friends Brooke and Steve who are ‘farmsitting’ for a month out in the country. The farm is just outside of the town of Ballarat and although it seemed a world away from the city, it only took about an hour’s drive when we left midday Friday. After an afternoon tour of the farm, we drove into Ballarat to stock up on groceries and drinks. Prior to the first gold strike, Ballarat was … (click for more).


A Day of Culture


10 May 2015
Melbourne, Vic

Our well-laid plans to hike in the mountains east of the city were dashed due to storms. We pivoted and instead embarked on an urban hike to try to get to know our city a little better. Andy kept on calling this a ‘Day of Culture’ but since I am writing this blog post, I will note that a ‘Day of walking really far’ would have been just as apt. From our home in Albert Park, we trekked first to the National Gallery of … (click for more).


Sunshine Coast


23 May 2015
Alexandra Headlands, Vic

As an early birthday present, Erin planned a short trip for us to Noosa and the Sunshine Coast – a set of beachfront communities about an hour north of Brisbane. We caught a Thursday afternoon flight out of Melbourne, which was quite bumpy due to the developing thunderstorms along coast. As we approached the landing, our pilots hit the gas and pulled out of it a few moments before impact and then circled … (click for more).


Noosa


25 May 2015
Noosa, Qld

We left our Alexandra Heads accommodation early on the slow bus bound for Noosa. The trip – cheap and comfortable – follows the windy road all up the coast. We stopped every ½ mile or so to pick up a barefooted surfer or two along the way. Scenic, slow and crowded by the time we arrived in downtown Noosa. Noosa Heads is a very quaint, … (click for more).


A Long Awaited Delivery


28 May 2015
Albert Park, Vic

After five months at sea – well more like two months at sea and three months in customs and port storage facilities – our shipment of household goods finally arrived. And just 72 hours prior to our flights back to the U.S. for the month of June. The boxes looked like they had been kicked, dragged and thrown the entire 8,186 miles, but miraculously nothing, minus … (click for more).


Winter in Melbourne


27 June 2015
Albert Park, Vic

[Andy] I returned from our hectic U.S. trip to depths of Melbourne winter. A calm and sunny 55 degrees. As a native of the upper Midwest I remember late spring/early summer days that weren’t this nice. Yet, a good portion of the locals took the opportunity to don their North Face puffy jackets and knit, woolen hats. Perhaps overkill, but I do love the smell of the wood fireplaces burning in our … (click for more).


Melbourne from the Sky


20 July 2015
Melbourne, Vic

[Erin] I flew back to Melbourne on July 8th, prepared to keep myself busy with work until Andy got back on the 26th. One Cryptolock Virus, one trans-Pacific voyage for my computer and one panic attack later I found myself without a laptop, feeling completely un-tethered from society. The only silver lining of sending my laptop back to the States for resurrection was that with the … (click for more).


Heide Art Museum


22 July 2015
Heidelberg, Vic

[Erin] Earlier this week, on a day that promised to have 0% chance of rain, I took a bike ride out of town to visit the Heide Museum of Modern Art. A 20 kilometer bike ride from the city, the Heide sits within 15 acres of parklands. The land was purchased by John and Sunday Reed in 1934. And what was initially their home of a farm house, (Heide I) and kitchen … (click for more).


Blind Date


10 August 2015
Frankston, Vic

One perk of moving to a large, international city is that many of our friends, family and colleagues have connections here in Melbourne. As a result, from time to time we get set up for, what could only be called, blind dates. This Sunday was such an occasion. One of Erin’s childhood friends had studied in New Zealand and knew a girl who happened to be living … (click for more).


Geelong


25 August 2015
Geelong, Vic

We each had a busy past week preparing for new adventures; Andy with baseball tryouts for the Port Melbourne Mariners, (serendipitously enough our local team), and me with my first teaching experience at the University. I was hired as a teaching assistant, or a Tutor as they are referred to here, for a Site Planning and Design studio through the University Landscape Architecture program. … (click for more).


Footy Friday


5 September 2015
Melbourne, Vic

Eric arrived today, our first visitor from back home. For his first full day, we hit up the South Melbourne Market for a lunch of Yum Cha (Dim Sum), Oysters and Meat Pies. We then took a long, leisurely stroll into downtown, winding through Melbourne’s famous alleyways, eventually grabbing a few beers from a small café. There were many choices of alleyway bars, but we were lured in by the large Italian man who smelled strongly of coconut and vanilla and who offered us … (click for more).


Great Ocean Road, Day 1


6 September 2015
Apollo Bay, Vic

The offer of a free upgrade at the rental car office is always a good omen for a road trip. The ‘upgrade’, in this case, meant getting handed the keys to metallic green Holden Commodore Sport Edition. If you are anything other than an Aussie or absolute car wonk, you probably have never heard of Holden. It is an oft-maligned domestic brand. Think Pontiac not Cadillac. Pulling out the Avis garage, strange noises … (click for more).


Great Ocean Road, Day 2


7 September 2015
Warrnambool, Vic

[Erin] We began day 2 of our Great Ocean Road trip in search of more koalas. Slow and seemingly high, these marsupials are 70% shanks, 20% ears and 100% adorable. My maths don’t add up, but the description should at least give you an overall understanding of the koala bear cuteness. We understood the ‘bear’ descriptor after seeing these little guys in action (or inaction), but I would probably characterize them as part Ewok, part hamster. … (click for more).


Heide Sculpture Garden


10 September 2015
Bulleen, Vic

Eric and Erin ventured out to the Heide Museum of Modern Art for a late lunch in the museum’s café and then toured the massive sculpture garden discussing which pieces we liked best. After hearing “I could make that” one too many times from Eric, they both settled on the airy and geometric volume create out of welded rebar as the top … (click for more).


Mornington Day Trip


12 September 2015
Portsea, Vic

The weather called for 0% chance of rain so we decided to drive down to the Mornington Peninsula for the day. Naturally it started raining on us as we reached our first stop at the Cranbourne Royal Botanical Gardens. These gardens were magnificent. We can only imagine that the designers that got to work on this job were in heaven. Within the featured Australian Garden, there were twenty or so individual … (click for more).


And they are off…


14 September 2015
Flemington, Vic

Horse racing in Victoria still maintains a measure of cultural and social importance. Or, in other words, still offers members of polite society a chance to dress up and remind themselves that they are still members of polite society. The horses themselves are a bit of an afterthought. Being two immigrants and a tourist, we first checked the style guide – no jodhpurs, cravats, … (click for more).


Last Hurrah (for Eric)


16 September 2015
Halls Gap, Vic

Eric’s time with us was quickly coming to an end. A successful first time for us hosting a fellow Yank. With the glorious spring weather, we snuck in one last little trip – a one night excursion to the Grampians – before Eric was set to return to America. We had been to the Grampians before but still had plenty to explore. … (click for more).


Perth, then North


3-4 October 2015
Perth(ish), Western Australia

While our west coast trip was meant to get us out of the city, we did dedicate a morning to a small walkabout in central Perth. It is a nice city, complete with multiple pedestrian zones, flashy new buildings and all the requisite retail chains, high end restaurants and tourist shops. And when we say ‘nice’, we are hinting at … (click for more).


Rotto


4 October 2015
Rottnest Island, Western Australia

While most of Australia was making its way to Melbourne to watch the Australian Football League Grand Finals, (the Aussie Superbowl), we were happily tucked into our small AirBnB in Fremantle, a suburb of Perth. After an evening of exploring town we booked morning tickets on the boat to … (click for more).


The Race that Stops a Nation


4 November 2015
Melbourne, Victoria

Tuesday was Melbourne Cup Day. It is the biggest race day of the 8-day Spring Carnival and a public holiday for all, except us lowly University employees. This may seem a bit excessive for a horse race, but this is a country where gambling is as much of … (click for more).


Things I’m Loving about Melbourne


17 November 2015
Melbourne, Victoria

ART & DESIGN EVERYWHERE

From government commissioned graffiti to land sculptures to temporary installations, this city supports art that will amaze you and engage you. Also, I’m pretty sure it is someone’s full time job to cover our neighborhood sidewalks with cheery chalk drawings. … (click for more).


 

by Andy Krause

andy@andykrause.com